Linguistics: Artificial intelligence

Without Words You Can't Think

Artificial Intelligence: It is the branch of computer science that deals with making computers behave like humans. In other words, making
computers think. Today, results obtained by computers depend on what
the user sends to it (input). This term was coined by John McCarthy at
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1956. This includes
gaming (eg. human vs. computer chess games), and expert systems(eg.
helping doctors diagnose a problem). A good site on AI :

STANFORD ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PROJECT AUGUST 1972 OPERATING NOTE 70 PUB
The Document Compiler by Larry Tesler ABSTRACT: PUB is an advanced text justifier and page formatter intended primarily for use by programmers. It can automatically number pages, sections, figures, footnotes, etc. and can print their numbers in roman numerals as well as in digit or letter form. It can generate cross references, tables of contents, and indexes. Page layout is flexible, and allows multiple column output. Line formatting includes tabs, underlining, superscripts, subscripts, centering, and justification. Macros programmed in a SAIL-like string-processing language can generate text to be printed in the document. The output of the compiler is a file which can be printed on the terminal, on the line printer, or on microfilm.

Dr. Kenneth Mark Colby, a psychiatrist known for his work with artificial intelligence, died on April 20 at his home in Malibu, Calif. He was 81.

Dr. Colby, a founder and chairman of Malibu Artifactual Intelligence Works, a software company, was an emeritus professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of California at Los Angeles.

He created one of the early software programs known as chatterbots, which simulate conversations with people. His program, called Parry, for paranoia, appeared in 1971 and is said to be the only one to have passed the "Turing test," named for the British mathematician Alan M. Turing, who in 1950 suggested that if a computer could successfully
impersonate a human by carrying on a typed conversation with a person, it could be called intelligent.

With Parry, Dr. Colby established that a computer chip could be programmed to imitate a paranoid schizophrenic. In test interviews, psychiatrists communicating with Parry by Teletype were indeed unable to distinguish its responses from those of real paranoiacs.

Kenneth Colby was born in Waterbury, Conn., and graduated from Yale in 1941 and from its School of Medicine two years later.

Early in his career, he was a professor of computer science at Stanford, where he also did research for the National Institute of Mental Health. He created Parry at the university's Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

In 1974, he went to U.C.L.A., where he was affiliated with the department of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences.

At 31, Dr. Colby published "A Primer for Psychotherapists." He wrote or contributed to nine more books and over 100 articles on psychiatry, psychology, psychotherapy and artificial intelligence.

He and his son, Peter, founded Malibu Artifactual Intelligence Works in 1989. Among the software they produced is a therapy program called Overcoming Depression, which features interactive plain language designed to help a patient understand, overcome and prevent depression.

Besides his son, of Malibu, Dr. Colby is survived by his wife of 43 years, Maxine Hansbold Colby; a daughter, Erin Johnson of Santa Maria, Calif.; and two grandsons.

Dr. Colby adapted Parry from another program, Eliza, created in 1966 by Dr. Joseph Weizenbaum at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Eliza was developed more as a language-parsing tool than as an exercise in human intelligence. Named for the Eliza Doolittle character in "Pygmalion," it was the first conversational computer program, designed to imitate a psychotherapist asking questions instead of giving advice. It appeared to give conversational answers, although it could be led to lapse into obtuse nonsense.

Eliza and the paranoid Parry eventually met for a "talk," executing different programs. One exchange went something like this:

PARRY In my opinion, you have a one- track mind.

ELIZA What makes you think I have a one-track mind?

PARRY I used to go to the track every week.

ELIZA What does that suggest to you?

PARRY I avoid racetracks now because the races are fixed.

ELIZA Is that the real reason?

PARRY I'd rather not discuss it.

ELIZA What else would you like to discuss?

PARRY That's something I don't want to go into.

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Daniel Dennett article considers a curious chapter in AI history, where researcher Kenneth Colby used the Turing Test to see whether psychiatrists could distinguish between delusional patients and his natural language paranoia simulator 'PARRY'.